In the modern world, it is unusual to travel by water, especially rivers. There are, of course, river cruises, and larger rivers, like the Danube, still have large vessels shipping goods, not to mention smaller pleasure craft, but we tend, nowadays, to travel by land. However, in the ancient world, from the Tigris to the Tiber, rivers were packed with riverine craft transporting goods and people from one place to another.
The Nile
The most famous river from antiquity, by far, is the Nile. Stretching uninterrupted for 1200 km from the First Cataract to the Mediterranean Sea, the river dominated the landscape, and this is reflected in early art from the region. Nilotic scenes featuring crocodiles, hippopotami, and river birds are a common motif on Naqada I–II pottery from the…
